Generally, Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a serial bus standard to the PC architecture with a focus on computer interface, consumer and productivity applications. The existing Universal Serial Bus (USB) interconnects have the attributes of plug-and-play and ease of use by end users. Now, as technology innovation marches forward, new kinds of devices, media formats and large inexpensive storage are converging. They require significantly more bus bandwidth to maintain the interactive experience that users have come to expect. In addition, the demand of a higher performance between the PC and the sophisticated peripheral is increasing. The transmission rate of USB 2.0 is insufficient. As a consequence, faster serial bus interfaces such as USB 3.0, are developed, which may provide a higher transmission rate so as to satisfy the need of a variety devices.
The appearance, the structure, the contact ways of terminals, the number of terminals, the pitches between terminals (the distances between the terminals), and the pin assignment of terminals of a conventional USB type-C electrical connector are totally different from those of a conventional USB electrical connector. A conventional USB type-C electrical receptacle connector includes a plastic core, upper and lower receptacle terminals held on the plastic core, and an outer iron shell circularly enclosing the plastic core. The purpose of the outer iron shell is mainly for shielding the electromagnetic waves produced by the receptacle terminals and preventing from the signal interference.
The tongue inside the conventional USB electrical receptacle connector may be damaged easily when an electrical plug connector is inserted into the receptacle connector with a wrong inserting orientation. As a result, the electrical receptacle connector having a damaged tongue portion has to be replaced, and the repair fee is costive. Therefore, an electrical receptacle connector capable of being mated with an electrical plug connector in two inserting orientations is developed. However, because of the widely applications of the USB connector, some problems are to be solved.
For example, the USB connectors are widely applied as the interface for high frequency signal emitters, radiofrequency signal emitters, wireless signal emitters, or Bluetooth emitters. The connector merely has the outer iron shell for enclosing the terminals and the insulated housing for holding the terminals to shield the electromagnetic waves, yet the shielding performance is insufficient. Furthermore, because the outer iron shell is formed by bending and folding a single metallic sheet, gaps may be formed between the intersections of different portions of the metallic sheet, and the holes reduce the shielding performance of the electromagnetic waves. As a result, the signals would be interfered by external noises during the signal transmission, and the quality of the signals is reduced.
In order to reduce the crosstalk between upper and lower terminals and to improve the shielding performance, a grounding plate is in the insulated housing. Therefore, the electromagnetic interferences can be reduced by the shielding of the outer iron shell and the grounding plate. However, some difficulties are encountered in the manufacturing of the connector having the aforementioned features. Commonly, the terminals and the grounding plate are in the insulated housing by insert-molding techniques. Because the terminals have longer lengths and each may have several turning portions, the terminals have to be positioned by fixtures to prevent from being shifted during the molding procedure. Similarly, in order to position the grounding plate during the molding procedure, the turning portions of the grounding plate are provided with several openings for the insertion of the fixtures. Consequently, the manufacturing of the one-piece grounding plate becomes complicated; in addition, the openings would reduce the structural strength of the grounding plate, and the grounding plate may be deformed during the manufacturing process. As a result, the product defect-free rate would decrease.